From:
AFERRETVET@cs.com
Date: 2003-11-13 06:56:30 UTC
Subject: Re: Barf diets.
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <159.277acd4c.2ce4851e@cs.com>
Hi
There are sevral problems with BARF diets.
You brought up one of the main problems:
ie infections from the raw food.
A. Tuberculosis: The ferret appears to be highly
susceptible to starins of Mycobacterium avain,
bovine, and human. They can be infected through
unpasteurized milk, raw poultry, and raw meat.
Chicken offal could be a source of infection.
Yes, this is a zoonotic disease.
B. Salmonella: Salmonella is very common in
chickens. In a Canadian Vet Journal there was a
study testing BARF diets for Salmonella. 80% of
the food samples were positive, and 30% of the dogs
on the Barf diet had positive salmonella fecal samples.
Yes, this a zoonotic disease.
C. E. coli is also very common in chickens.
This is also a zoonotic disease.
The other main problem is wether the BARF diet is
a complete and balanced diet for long term use. Thus
I would recommend Hill's a/d, and/or Gerber's baby food
instead of BARF diets. If you still want to feed the BARF
diet please cook it first.
Jerry Murray, DVM